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Gunhed
Gunhed (Blazing Lasers in the US) is a Vertically Scrolling Shooter created by Compile in 1989 for the Turbo-Graphix 16. The game has the traditional style of a Compile game but is occasionally mistaken to be part of the Soldier Series due to some similarities and the fact it was released on the Turbo-Graphix 16. Plot Gameplay Gunhed's style is similar to other Compile games such as Zanac and Aleste. The player can pick up four main weapons and four sub-weapons and power them up by either collecting more of that weapon type or picking up purple orbs dropped by enemies. The weapons can be powered up a certain number of times, getting more powerful with each one to a level of six. If the player gets hit with a level greater than three, the ship survives but the weapon is downgraded. The player is also equipped with bombs that can block bullets and cause damage to anything in the blast radius, max number is 15. As the player's score increases, more bombs are added. Also, as score increases, the player will gain extra lives and eventually the ability to negate "restart points", indicated by a gold colored icon for lives. This means that upon death, instead of starting at a respawn point in the stage, the player will start at the point of death. Weapons This is a list of the weapons and sub-weapons available. Main Weapons *'I' - This is the standard vulcan 5-way shot prominent in the Soldier games. Fully powered up, it shoots directly ahead and in an X pattern allowing the player to hit targets in many directions. *'II' - This shoots a wave that can bend sharply in the direction the player is moving. This is similar to the number Rapid Fire weapon in Zanac. Fully powered up shoots 3 streams of waves directly ahead and 45 degrees left and right. *'III' - This weapon shoots a lightning laser that drastically increases in field size as it's powered up. Speed of fire is the slowest of the weapons, but it is very powerful. At full power, the laser covers 1/3 of the field per shot. *'IV' - This weapon shoots a rotating sphere that can block shots. This is similar to the Rotation weapon from Zanac. At full power, there are 4 spheres in a horizontal oval arc around the ship. Sub-Weapons *'M' - This shoots many homing missiles that track targets. Normally four are released, but if weapon I is equipped, the number increases to eight. *'S' - This creates a shield around the ship that allows it to take several hits without penalty. *Alternate - This changes your current main weapon into it's alternate function. *Option - These fire a weaker version of the current main weapon and follow the ship around. At full power, it can absorb several shots. *Special - A very rare weapon that works with the I weapon. When collected, the ship will be able to shoot in 8 directions. Caravan Gunhed has a 2 and 5 minute caravan mode that takes place in stage 3. (?) Additionally, there was a tournament version released called Gunhed Taikai. Movie? There was a movie released also called Gunhed with title letters similar to that of the game title, however the movie holds no relation to the game. Links *Hardcore Gaming 101's Star Soldier page with Gunhed information Category:Vertically Scrolling Shooters Category:Soldier Series Category:Turbo Grafx-16 Category:Games Category:Compile